Alec Lemon agreed to terms on a rookie free agent contract with the Houston Texans because of a lack of depth at the wide receiver position.Frank Ordonez | The Post-Standard

Alec Lemon got a call from the Houston Texans during the final day of the NFL Draft on Saturday. His name was still on the board, and it was a dream of his to hear his name called on draft day ever since he started watching the draft as a kid.

The Texans told him they were interested in him, but they were out of draft picks. Saturday ended, Lemon's name went unannounced, but he had rookie free agent offers from Houston, the San Diego Chargers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cleveland Browns to mull over before deciding on the best fit to try to earn one of 53 spots on the active roster.

Houston won out mainly because they have a young, relatively inexperienced receiving corps outside of standout wide receiver Andre Johnson. No other receiver on the Texans' roster has more than two years of NFL experience, and that was clearly a draft priority. They selected Clemson wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins with their first-round pick and Jacksonville State's Alan Bonner in the sixth round.

"I didn't wanna go to a team that had a lot of wide receivers," Lemon said, "because you have 3-4 wide receivers, then I would probably not get any reps."

Shortly after that selection, the Texans dialed up Lemon, who he had contact with during the Senior Bowl and NFL scouting combine.

Lemon will officially sign his rookie free agent contract when he reports to Houston's rookie minicamp on May 9. Terms of that deal were not immediately known, Lemon said.

"They need wide receivers," Lemon said. "They need someone besides Andre Johnson, and they'll give me every opportunity to make a name for myself and get one of the spots. If I can play special teams, then I have a high chance of making the active roster."

Lemon is working out at his home in Crofton, Md., running routes and catching passes from the quarterbacks at his former high school. While not ideal — Lemon didn't want to have to work around the schedules of the current Syracuse quarterbacks — the goal is simply to stay sharp on his routes by the time he reports to camp.

He knows it's on him to impress the Texans right from the start.

It's a potent offense that is looking for more playmakers.

Lemon had the third 1,000-yard receiving season in Syracuse history last year, and it was the first since former NFL star Marvin Harrison set the school record with 1,131 yards in 1995.

He also broke his own Syracuse record for most catches in a season with 72.